The Grand plan The Grand plan

Having given his all last weekend and come up short against the mighty Lonhro, Saturday's Epsom will tell us a lot about Grand Armee's spirit, writes Darren Beadman.

The Epsom Handicap favourite's character is on the line. Grand Armee must bounce back from a demoralising defeat at the hooves of Lonhro in last Saturday's George Main Stakes at Royal Randwick.

Gai Waterhouse's tearaway Doncaster Handicap winner of last autumn can go one way or the other in this feature. As usual, the Epsom is a top-grade race run under handicap conditions, ensuring it is open to all-comers.

But Grand Armee must rise to the occasion. The concern surrounds the amount of damage Lonhro inflicted on the strapping five-year-old in last weekend's weight-for-age showdown, which turned into a benefit for Octagonal's greatest son.

In defeat, Grand Armee gave his all. Will it have dented him mentally? Make no mistake, the gelding turned in a ripper at his first weight-for-age try when finishing second. He was 1 lengths in front of Defier, which is proven at that level.

But will Grand Armee bounce back from the trouncing dished out by Lonhro, which had yours truly swinging on top? Athletes through the ages have faced similar challenges. Defeated by the dominant player, many never return to their best. Others are inspired by the beating.

And it wasn't as if Grand Armee had a soft run; not as if he charged out of a pocket late to nab second spot. No, the son of Hennessy was roaring along when the seven-horse field topped the famed Randwick rise.

Jim Cassidy had raced in front of my bloke all the way. "Pumper" Jim let Grand Armee loose as we flattened for the run home, and his mount dropped all but Lonhro.

Grand Armee was stretching his neck out, showing just what outstanding gallopers are capable of, and he was absolutely flying. The problem was, Lonhro was lobbing along - if you can believe it.

Grand Armee was hooting and Lonhro flew past. That must be a concern for Grand Armee's team. It must have been a test of this galloper's mental state. Grand Armee knew he was pretty good and got pasted.

That's a worry. Lonhro may have taken the sting out of Grand Armee. Maybe that's an advantage for me and others in the Epsom on Saturday.

And it's worth noting that Grand Armee did have a tough run when unable to fend off stablemate Fiery Venture in the Theo Marks prior to Saturday's George Main. It gives Epsom rivals hope - certainly my charge, Boreale.

Corey Brown legged me aboard Boreale at trackwork on Tuesday and said: "Keep an eye on this beast." He was joking.

He is a gentle giant. An absolute toff to ride, Boreale is like a front-rower without the attitude. He rarely does anything wrong and gives it his all on most occasions. He is in this Epsom with a winning weight of 53.5 kilograms.

The Epsom is an ideal handicap for Boreale, and his two runs this time in work have been really, really good. He carried 51kg into third place behind Grand Armee (51.5kg) in the Doncaster.

Boreale was beaten 2 lengths on that occasion, with Grand Armee now up to 55.5kg in the Epsom. This is easily the type of race Boreale could win.

Boreale's trainer, John Hawkes, also has Forum Floozie and Stradbroke Handicap winner Crawl in the Epsom. My effort aboard Forum Floozie when third at Randwick last Saturday earned a "B" rating from chief stipe Ray Murrihy.

It pains me to say this but he may have got it right.

While handing out the bouquets, special mention to Norm James and the track team at Randwick, who have the track in great order.

Last weekend it played perfectly.

Melbourne ace Damien Oliver walked the track after the first race and returned full of compliments. I didn't ride in the opener and wasn't sure if he was joking, for the course proper has been a little tricky of late.

But the team at headquarters has kept the bore water up to the track and it has responded. The grass is thick. It raced as fair as you could get and no one wants anything else.

One thing is certain, horse welfare was looked after. Not many would have pulled up sore on Sunday, and if they did it would have been minor. How good is that? You can't get much better.

And things are on the move with racing's former rulers. The Australian Jockey Club's marketing team is doing well. People may not be going to the average Saturday meeting but they'll step out for showtime.

Carnival days bring the crowds and the condensing of the autumn carnival into one week of four action-packed dates is to be applauded. You'll never know if you don't try.

And the crowd. Am I just ageing or is there a younger crowd turning up for these feature days?

Down in the old leger the marquees are already up. The mob that turns up down there certainly enjoys the racing.

They'll be down on the fence at the 300-metre mark on Epsom Day. The longer the day goes the rowdier the team becomes. You'd have to think about 50 per cent don't see a race but they certainly look to be enjoying themselves.

And that's what it's all about. Having a bit of fun. Lonhro made sure everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable outing last week, and Grand Armee and co will be doing the same on Saturday.

As for the day's other races, they are also intriguing affairs. The Flight Stakes looks to have three main contenders, of which my mount, Santissima, must be fancied.

The three-year-old is a promising filly. She continues to make progress and has handled each step Hawksey has asked her to take. Winning at Rosehill two runs ago, she wanted to climb and reach when finishing off the race.

None of that last Saturday when rounding off her Flight Stakes campaign in fine style. She lengthened stride nicely. It was as if she had learnt from the Rosehill experience.

Shamekha looks to be a push-button filly and is a class act. Another one for Pumper Jim, Shamekha seems to be able to race wherever the jock wants. She has a good turn of foot and is tough.

The Peter Dombkins-trained Classy Dane is another with Flight Stakes credentials. The former steward has himself a handy galloper. She was overpowered by Lonhro's stablemate Ambulance at Randwick last weekend but returns to the fillies this weekend.

And the Spring Champion Stakes for three-year-olds is going to prove a strong form race. I'm on Allgunadoit, which won the Spring Stakes at Newcastle in fine style.

We wrote about the performance a couple of weeks ago. Allgunadoit is prepared by my old mate Kevin Moses and it would be sensational if he could win a group 1 race this early in his training career.

Like Santissima, Allgunadoit is improving with each run. A plain type he may be; a bit rough and ready, one might say, but he has a desire to win. Then again, he hasn't run into Lonhro. Grand Armee has, and it will be interesting.